Blackwater Navy
Transcript from Wednesday December 17, 2008’s Situation Report. Click here for link to the audio.
Two hundred years ago, Islamic pirates off the coast of North Africa were disrupting the shipping lanes. Nations were forced to pay tribute to the Barbary pirates, but merchant ships were still being held for ransom.
The tributes and ransom payments amounted to almost one-fifth of our nation’s GDP. Congress authorized military action against the Barbary pirates, and the U.S. Navy began a campaign to protect our shipping in the Mediterranean.
One of our frigates, the Philadelphia, hit an uncharted reef off Tripoli harbor. Pirates captured the vessel and its crew of 307. Naval Lt. Stephen Decatur recaptured the Philadelphia and destroyed it. British Admiral Horatio Nelson called Decatur’s raid the “the most bold and daring act of the age.”
Marine Corps Lt. Pressley O’Bannon led a daring raid that resulted in the capture of the city of Derna and forced the leader of Tripoli to surrender. O’Bannon’s action inspired the lyrics “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn.
But despite these acts of heroics, Jefferson signed a treaty with the defeated Barbary pirates, paying $60,000 in ransom for the prisoners they still held (that’s almost $1 million in today’s dollars). Even in defeat, the pirates got what they wanted.
In 1985, the Reagan administration, after exhausting all other possibilities, paid ransom to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah (through their Iranian masters) for the release of three American hostages.
Fast forward to today. 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, including one-fifth of the world’s oil. According to Retired Marine Col. Oliver North, Islamic pirates operating out of Somalia have conducted over 300 attacks this year, with 65 vessels and 300 sailors captured. This has cost shipping companies $40 million in ransom payments, and has increased the cost of insurance premiums tenfold. Naval presence from several countries, including the U.S., has had no effect on the pirates.
It is time for real solutions. As long as pirates keep getting paid, they will keep being pirates. History shows us that piracy is not a problem that government can fix. Private security contractors such as Blackwater protect shipping much more effectively than naval task forces, who must cover 2.5 million miles of sea. When it comes to fighting pirates, naval flotillas are expensive and ineffective.
The news media and certain organizations are critical of security contractors. MSNBC wrote an article that was highly critical of Blackwater, but soft-soaps the pirates. Cyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau defends the pirates, asking: “If someone onboard a ship pulls a gun, will the other side pull a grenade?”
The pirates won’t attack if they think you might have a grenade, Cyrus!
But shipping companies, insurance companies, and even Somali officials are in favor. Shipping companies operating in the Gulf of Aden already use security contractors, and insurance companies slash premiums if contractors are used. If we really want to protect innocent sailors and keep the prices of goods low, it is time to start doing something that works.